Mansfield man posted about killing ex-girlfriend before being chased, shot in Kentucky

By Bethany Bruner The Columbus Dispatch GateHouse Media Ohio

Wednesday

Feb 13, 2019 at 4:57 PMFeb 13, 2019 at 5:00 PM

Ty’rell Pounds signaled his intentions in a parting message to his son and family on Facebook on Monday, shortly before abducting the boy’s mother, an Ohio State University-Mansfield student, at gunpoint and later fatally shooting her.

Kentucky State Police say Pounds fatally shot 20-year-old Skylar Williams, his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child, and Pounds was then fatally shot by a trooper following a police pursuit, authorities said Wednesday.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Pounds confronted Williams at OSU-Mansfield at 11:45 a.m. Monday and forced her into a car at gunpoint. The vehicle Pounds used to flee Mansfield was found in a car rental lot later in the day.

The search for Pounds and Williams was focused in Ohio until four hours after the abduction, when police in Kentucky received a 911 call Monday afternoon from a passerby in Gallatin County, Kentucky. The caller said he saw a man, later identified as Pounds, forcing a distraught woman, later identified as Williams, into a Dodge Caravan in a gas station parking lot near Interstate 71.

Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rick Sanders said Wednesday that the passerby called police after seeing Williams mouthing "Help me."

Kentucky State Police troopers spotted the van — which was stolen from a rental car business in the Mansfield area — in neighboring Henry County and tried to pull it over, but Pounds, who was driving, refused to stop. Troopers tried to use stop sticks during the pursuit, but Pounds avoided them.

Pounds eventually exited Interstate 71 in Oldham County, located northeast of Louisville, and Kentucky Trooper Joey Brown, a five-year veteran, performed a pit maneuver that turned the van sideways abruptly to prevent Pounds’ attempt to drive back onto the highway.

Sanders said Pounds turned the van around as a result of the maneuver and peeled back the door of Brown’s cruiser, temporarily pinning the trooper inside.

Brown eventually got out of his cruiser and was about three feet from Pounds, who was armed with a gun and wearing a bulletproof vest, Sanders said. The trooper heard Brown fire a gunshot and opened fire on Pounds, some of them hitting the suspect’s vest.

After determining that Pounds was no longer a threat, Brown put a tourniquet on and rendered first aid tended to Williams, who had been hit by a bullet that had traveled through her left arm and hit her chest, Sanders said. Williams was later pronounced dead at University of Louisville Hospital, he said.

Pounds died at the scene, Sanders said.

Forensic testing on the bullet retrieved from William’s chest during an autopsy on Tuesday determined it had came from a firearm recovered from Pounds, he said.

Sanders said troopers didn’t initially know that Williams had been abducted from the OSU Mansfield campus at gunpoint when the pursuit began.

They also were not aware of Pounds’ posting on his Facebook page, indicating his intention to kill Williams and himself, he said.

"Kylo Pounds I love you so much I hope you become a better man than I was..." Pounds said in the post. "My dream goal was to raise you as a man and for me to become a state trooper!!! ... I’m so sorry you have to grow up without us baby!!"

Pounds apologized to his father and his family in the post, saying "I let my feelings build up ... there is nothing you guys could’ve done to stop me!!" He urged his family to help "keep my son out of the streets. I don’t want him following my bad ways."

Pounds’ Facebook post indicated that he and Williams were in a custody battle for the child. The couple’s child was safe with relatives at the time of the abduction and is staying with relatives, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.

Sanders said Pounds had been taking classes to become a law enforcement officer in Ohio.

"Our Ohio State community suffered a tragic loss with the death of Mansfield student Skylar Williams," OSU President Dr. Michael V. Drake said in a statement. "This senseless and shocking incident has left our campus shaken."

Williams graduated from Madison Comprehensive High School in Mansfield and was studying physical therapy at OSU’s-Mansfield campus.

Dispatch reporter Patrick Cooley contributed to this story.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Daily Jeffersonian ~ 831 Wheeling Ave., Cambridge, OH 43725 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service